Today is the gravest danger of nuclear war than at any time in the nuclear era. This is a reality so stark and intimidating that many people feel powerless to do anything about it. But something can be done.
U.S. House of Representatives Building and the east portico of the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. (Ron Cogswell, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
A Call to Action: Congressional intervention is needed to prevent a nuclear war with Russia.
By Scott Ritter
Special to Consortium News
Congress can be somewhat intimidating to the uninitiated—a literal shining house on a hill, where the empowered elite gather in chambers to debate the finer points of issues that impact our daily lives.
What is sometimes overlooked by the average citizen is that the vehicle of empowerment that allows these anointed lawmakers to take their seats in these chambers is themselves — every two years these representatives of the people must stand muster before their respective constituents and convince enough of them to cast a vote in their favor.
If they win a majority of votes, they can remain in Washington, D.C. If not, they return home unemployed. Because of this electoral reality, the men and women who populate the House of Representatives are very responsive to the will of the people, especially when confronted with numbers they simply cannot ignore.
This phenomenon holds true for Senators, too, although they only must face the crucible of the voter once in six years.
In early 2000, I was invited to speak to an audience of influential citizens of Omaha, Nebraska. It was a very conservative crowd, inclined to take an aggressive stance when it came to Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein.
Following my introduction, I took to the podium to near silence — the crowd was clearly not inclined to listen to someone articulating an argument in favor of peace and diplomacy. Forty-five minutes later I had the crowd on their feet, cheering.
I had made my case.
In the question-and-answer period, someone asked me if I had spoken with Senator Chuck Hagel. I told them I had tried, but he wouldn’t take my call. I noted that he worked for them, and if perhaps he received a few phone calls from the good citizens of Omaha, Nebraska, he might be inclined to meet me.
I arrived to my home in New York the next day. Almost immediately my phone rang — it was Chuck Hagel. “Scott, I don’t know what the hell you did or said, but my phone has been ringing non-stop all day, and my fax machine has run out of paper printing all the letters people are sending about my need to have a meeting with you. When can you come down to Washington?”
Democracy works when we make it work.
Today Americans from all walks of life are confronted with the real threat of nuclear war — many experts, me included, believe that there is a greater danger today that at any time in the nuclear era for a nuclear war — greater than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This is an overwhelming reality, one so stark and intimidating that many people feel powerless to do anything about it.
But there is something that can be done.
Stop the ATACMS
ATACMS missile firing in May 2006. (U.S. Army/Wikimedia Commons)
When one breaks down the myriad of factors that contribute to the risk of a nuclear conflict between the U.S. and Russia, one issue emerges as the principle trigger for conflict — the decision by President Joe Biden to authorize Ukraine to fire U.S.-made ATACMS missiles (with assistance of U.S. personnel and satellites) against targets on Russian soil.
This action prompted Russia to escalate by launching an intermediate-range missile in retaliation against a target in Ukraine, and to threaten additional launches against targets located on soil belonging to NATO members, potentially triggering a larger war, one which could easily end up in a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and Russia (an exchange senior officers involved in the planning of nuclear war for the US have said they are prepared to engage in.)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, back in September of this year, refused to greenlight the use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine against Russia, noting that the weapons would not turn the tide on the battlefield, but would increase the risk of dangerous escalation.
This was sound thinking.
For some reason, President Biden, in mid-November, thought differently, and gave Ukraine the permission it had been seeking.
And now we find ourselves on the cusp of a nuclear war.
Austin was right — the use of ATACMS against Russian targets does not help Ukraine. It only brings the risk of nuclear escalation.
Below is the draft of a letter that will be sent to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee asking them to pressure President Biden to reverse his decision regarding ATACMS use by Ukraine.
If we collectively can make the phones of the members of this committee—especially the Chairman and the Ranking Member — ring off the hook, and empty the paper trays of their fax machines, we might be able to get enough signatures on this letter to catch the attention of the President.
Democracy works, if we make it work.
Pick up the phone. Call every name on this list. Fax them. Tell them you don’t want to die in a nuclear war. Demand that they sign this letter. And we might have a chance.
The Letter
We, the undersigned Members of Congress, believe that the recent decision by your administration to authorize the Ukrainian military to use United States-provided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against targets inside Russian territory as defined by the pre-2014 borders (i.e., territory not inclusive of Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Lugansk) has put the United States on a trajectory toward nuclear war with Russia.
The Russian government has, on numerous occasions, clearly articulated that this action is tantamount to a state of war existing between the United States and Russia — namely, that the United States, through this action, has become an active participant in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. This Russian position remains unchanged despite statements from your administration that the United States does not consider itself a party to the conflict.
Complicating the matter further is the fact that Russia has modified its nuclear doctrine in a way which lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. According to this new posture, the Russian government would consider a nuclear response to a conventional attack by a non-nuclear power if backed by a nuclear power.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has stated that the use of U.S.-provided ATACMS missiles by Ukraine against targets inside Russia meets this threshold, and could potentially be a trigger for a nuclear response under the revised doctrine.
The U.S. Intelligence community has reportedly issued an assessment which holds that Russia is unlikely to use nuclear weapons in retaliation for escalatory actions carried out by Ukraine with or without the assistance of the United States and NATO allies.
This assessment is contradicted by the words and actions of the Russian leadership, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has recently employed an intermediate-range strategic missile, the Oreshnik, armed with a conventional warhead, against a military industrial target in Ukraine in retaliation for the ATACMS attacks. Russia has promised further such attacks against Ukrainian targets and, if the ATACMS attacks continue unabated, NATO targets outside of Ukraine.
Such an action would trigger Article 5 of the NATO Charter, putting Russia in direct conflict with NATO, an action most experts believe would likely end in a nuclear conflict. Russian authorities, including its most recent Ambassador to the United States, has made it clear a nuclear conflict would not be limited to Europe, but also include the territory of the United States.
It is imperative that your administration reverse the decision regarding the use of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine against targets inside the borders of pre-2014 Russia. Such an action would, in and of itself, significantly reduce the risk of nuclear war, and could pave the way for a potential negotiated settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. If you fail to do so, the risk of a Russian nuclear retaliation against NATO prior to the end of your term in office is very high.
Click on the name of your representative and others below to contact them and send them this letter to sign and send to the White House.
Republican
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1. Michael T. McCaul, TX Chair
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10. Andy Barr, KY
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12. Young Kim, CA
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22. Cory Mills, FL
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25. John James, MI
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26. Keith Self, TX
Democrat
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5. Ami Bera, CA
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8. Ted Lieu, CA
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12. Andy Kim, NJ
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13. Sara Jacobs, CA
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16. Greg Stanton, AZ
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21. Jim Costa, CA
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22. Jason Crow, CO
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23. Gabe Amo, RI
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24. Kweisi Mfume, MD
Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. His most recent book is Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika, published by Clarity Press.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Good grief, how could you not mention Article I, sec 8, clause 11, of the US Constitution? It is clearly Congress’s responsibility to guard the nation against a meaningless war (or one for some nefarious purpose of the president) by insisting on Congress’s sole right to declare war. The Reps and Senators should immediately condemn Biden for “declaring a war” against Russia by this sneaky backdoor approach.
Would everyone please add that to their letter?
My abysmal rep, Rep Moulton (D, MA), a lawmaker who rarely sees a proposed Defense Dept budget he doesn’t want to increase, sits on the House Armed Services Committee. I suggest members of that committee should be also be urged to sign this letter. Perhaps Scott, or Joe or a reader might be able to provide that list?
A point I haven’t heard raised much: The short bio of Scott at the end of the article mentions his book, “Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika” which describes in detail the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and his involvement in it. If Trump hadn’t abandoned it (like Bush II the ABM Treaty), this new, astonishing, game-changing Oreshnik missile of the Russians – an intermediate range missile outlawed by the treaty – could not have been developed.
Congress must prevent nuclear war? Message to Scott Ritter, Congress won’t! Begging and pleading with the ruling classes obedient, well paid for lapdogs is a meaningless endeavor. The will of the people and the democratic principles have been completely ignored and abandoned. We exist in a facade. The three branches of government have no ear turned toward the working class and poor. The only way forward to stop the threat of nuclear war and the increasing exploitation of the working class is for the global working class to turn an ear toward each other and their unharnessed power to overthrow capitalism for a socialism of human need.
Congress is answerable to the people? I’m not so sure if that. I saw the election of my congressman rigged. It happened twice. The first time the supervisor of elections was caught illegally destroying ballots. However, she kept her job and went on to supervise the next election. When the cheated candidate tried to raise the alarm no one was interested, no government agency at any level, neither political party, none of the main stream news media, and no major watchdog organization.
Congresspeople are “very responsive to the will of the people”? What country do you live in, Scott? It sounds nice. You’re intelligent enough to do a bit of a structural analysis of the U.S. government, or, better yet, to read and review the many which have been done, from Charles Beard to C. Wright Mills to Sheldin Wolin, even to the famous Yale study from a few years ago calling the country an oligarchy. Your expertise is in arms control, not politics. I find it a bit sad, but moreso annoying, that in this important area of life you’ve let yourself be guided by assumptions. Our republic isn’t even nominally democratic, and appealing to Senators is a tremendous waste of time.
You are right, of course, in actuarial reality, but there is a desperate appeal to a more fundamental reality in Ritter’s argument: ‘The People’ have a great deal of power if they will exercise it. Now, I don’t think that letter writing or other typical communication efforts will be effective, but, as with the recent outrage of the South Korean people, mass action and national strikes would have power. I truly don’t think that the American people (really no such thing, but a shorthand), perhaps better, the Polarized misinformed people, can make any such action.
I read Trump’s considering Ron DeSantis for Pentagon chief if the Fox News guy doesn’t make it. DeSantis would likely win 100% approval because early on he said the magic words: “Putin is a war criminal.” It seems the Russian people don’t think so, give Mr. Putin very high approval numbers even by Levada poll (which would love to report bad numbers for Mr. Putin, keeps trying). US never considers the Russian people.
“I am so blissfully unaware of everything
Kids in Gaza are bombed and I’m just out of it
The tensions of the world are rising higher
We’re probably due another war with all this ire”
“All the silver tongued suits and cartoons that rule my world
Are saying it’s a high time for hypersonic missiles
When the bombs drop darlin’ can you say that you’ve lived your life
Oh, this is a high time for hypersonic missiles”
(from “Hypersonic Missile” by Sam Fender)
hxxps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoRFJZFEmCg
While I don’t share interest in running again for office, I agree with your assessment Mr. Ritter.
I perceive your take is one of optimism. I applaud you for such sentiment. The days that Biden acts rationally are seemingly cold days in hell. However, many believe he’s just a sock puppet on the world stage, and others call the shots, but he has a voice.
What would the US do, if for example a country such as Mexico were to be used as a proxy to start firing ATACMS deep inside the US territory? We all know this answer don’t we. The US would utterly destroy much of its neighbor for such extreme actions. This is not an example of provocation for psychopaths who do not like Mexico. Mexico has shown territorial restraint with their military. However, for reference regarding US responses, see Afghanistan and Iraq. Do we now expect a difference from any other superpower states regarding exestential threats? No. Of course not. That is nonsense.
This leaves a serious question, is Biden acting out as a lame duck surrogate to a foreign born-agenda of depopulation?
If so, are such brave ‘bunker men’, wherever they are, in their job by popular vote? If not, who appointed them to speak, those willing with a ‘yawn’ to commit US civilians to rolls of global mass casulty?
It appears Russia is showing some waning restraint.
Unelected co-conspirators to global mass casulty schemes need to be outed quickly!
The Atomic clock is apparently ticking in seconds, not minutes now that the world has opened the genie of hypersonic warfare. Adults of the present world stage need to take the helm.
Are we really heading towards an enormous global humanitarian and environmental crisis driven by power hungry psychopaths? If so, change course.
Good luck with your letter Mr. Ritter the optimist, I do hope you’re correct and not I.
Unaffiliated commetary and opinion only.
I am keeping this list.
Everyone needs to remember and share the Pentagon’s assessment, “In a Nuclear War, 2/3 of all Americans would die!”
That is 260, 000,000 American people who would die almost immediately, and millions more over time. All that, just because some greedy politicians and billionaire manipulators don’t want to be punished for their crimes?
Even if you don’t like people; think of the cats and dogs…….
America needs to Make Lame Ducks Extinct.
Hey, this made some sort of sense back when a new President or Congressperson had to ride to DC on horseback. Nowadays, with modern speed-of-light communications and jet airplane travel, Lame Ducks make no sense and should be made extinct. Hawaii is as furthest from DC, and I think that’s what, a 12 hour plane flight? We don’t need to wait for the speed of horse travel anymore.
Normally, I object to hearing that any species has become yet another to go extinct. But, we’ve reached a point where these Lame Ducks have become highly dangerous. Neither party has any respect for democracy, so both parties use this Lame Duck time to pass or push through stuff to hurt the other party. A few years back, a Repub legislature in WI was passing bills to limit a governor’s power after the democracy in the state had just chosen a Dem governor. Now we see the Dems handing out family pardons and trying to get World War III begun before the person elected by democracy on a pledge to end wars can reach office. These sorts of Lame Duck actions are a direct attack on democracy, and now have become the norm for either party.
Thus, I suggest two changes. First change, the winner of the election finds a federal judge and gets sworn in to office when one of two acts have occurred. 1) Enough opponents have ‘conceded’ the election such no remaining candidate can possibly win. 2) The officials in the location have officially certified the election results. If they still want to hold a formal ceremony later, fine. But the winner of the election should take the office as soon as possible.
The second change would be to sharply limit the powers that can be exercised in the lame duck period after election day. No Presidential Pardons would be on my list. This is only after Election Day, so they can’t sneak pardons through without the voters knowing about it before they vote. Congress would be limited to passing only emergency bills. In general, the powers of the lame ducks would be limited during the short time before the next occupant can be sworn in. Generally, the idea is that they should do what they need to do before Election Day, when its in the sunlight for the voters to see.
Make Lame Ducks Extinct!
MUST SEE video, ‘The Most Realistic Global Nuclear “First Strike” Simulation Ever Made’
hxxps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xthzy1PxTA